Maliba Mountain Lodge places 15th in TripAdvisor’s Top African Family Hotels for 2012!

TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel website, today reveals that Maliba Mountain Lodge was chosen a winner by TripAdvisor in its 2012 Travellers’ Choice® awards.

The annual TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice awards honor the world’s best hotels, earning their distinction from those who know them best – real travellers. Unlike any other hotel honours, TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice winners are based on millions of valuable reviews and opinions from travellers around the world.

“With the help of millions of travellers around the globe, TripAdvisor is thrilled to recognize the world’s most outstanding hotels with the Travellers’ Choice Awards,” said Christine Petersen, president, TripAdvisor for Business. “Recognizing the best of the best based on traveller feedback and reviews, value and quality are the hallmarks of our Travellers’ Choice winners.”

We have your lovely guests to thank for Maliba being honoured in the Trip Advisors Travellers Choice Awards. So thank you for taking the time to leave us a review after your stay. Not only do we really appreciate it but we really enjoy reading them as well.

The view from River Lodge - Photo by Rebecca Coetzee

A big thank you to Rebecca for sending us this image. Rebecca has won herself a Maliba Mountain Lodge peak cap which we will be sending to her shortly.

It was a successful two-day show with hundreds of exhibitors showcasing domestic and international destinations, travel products and services. Surprisingly we were joined by five other African exhibitors who are based in Australia; they are Traveljoy, Safaris into Africa, Encompass Africa, Swagman Tours, and The Africa Safari Co.

I’ve just recently moved to Melbourne after living in Africa for seven years, it gave me an idea how undiscovered Lesotho is, being one of Africa’s hidden gems. With the help of our interactive African map, I was able to show interested travellers where Maliba is located in the beautiful Ts’ehlanyane National Park in the majestic Maluti Mountains. The show visitors were amazed by the beauty of such a small country. I am very proud of the Maliba virtual tours that we’ve just launched on our website; which helped to show the true potential of Lesotho and what luxurious excellence Maliba has to offer.

Even though I didn’t have the whole Maliba team with me at the show however I was joined by Maliba’s Directors Chris McEvoy, Nick King and by marketing guru Nick Waterman, which made it an exciting and memorable event.

This Melbourne travel show has motivated us to launch a brand new Aussie Package at our 5 star Maliba Mountain Lodge exclusively for Australians which include a 4 night stay, all meals, return transfers to O.R. Tambo International Airport.

Book your next trip to Lesotho with us and Get Lost in Lesotho & Find yourself at Maliba.

I still teach about having only ‘one love’ and being faithful. But I think I’m being influenced as well. Cheating used to seem horrible, but now it seems common place and acceptable, and divorce wildly unjustified. We are supposed to be teaching ‘behaviour change’, but it often seems impossible. Better to focus on using precautions and protection rather than trying to get people to completely change their lifestyles, and be faithful to only one person their whole lives. If it wasn’t for HIV, I don’t think I would see the point in teaching about ‘one love’ at all. I still personally believe in having only one partner, but see less and less of a point in teaching about things that seem like western moral standards. In the U.S. we have technology and nice houses and more money, but from what I’ve seen it doesn’t make Americans any happier than the people of my rural Basotho village, with its social, communal, family structure and love for one another. The longer I’m here the less worthwhile I see in emulating any aspect of American culture here. And with modernization and electricity, I’m afraid my lovely little village is coming closer to it.

The contents of this article are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the American Peace Corps.

The Maliba Community Trust is involved in empowering the local community around Maliba Mountain Lodge through various projects, such school development and repairs (schools are encouraged to grow their own food) establishing of a community forest, for harvesting as well as a Craft project, amongst others.

Hand me Down is an SA Adventure initiative aimed at the redistribution of old clothes.

Every year SA adventure embarks on an expedition which has the ambition of sustainable development within various communities of Southern Africa. Our sustainable development includes the planting of vegetable gardens, developing school facilities and providing educational goods. As part of our expeditions, we have gathered and redistributed second hand clothes and toys to those in the local community. In doing this we have recognised that there is such a requirement for clothing, it only makes sense for us to call on those of you who can donate your “hand me downs” to those less fortunate. Old clothes are something everybody has and many people don’t know what to do with them, often they get thrown away or we leave them to pile up in the garage or cupboards.

Hand me Down is an appeal to local public to donate what they consider to be old clothes, so we can redistribute them to those less fortunate, through the correct channels! We intend on redistributing Hand me Downs every three months.

Even when people may think that no one could make use of it, someone can. This includes baby clothes, children’s clothes, adult clothes and shoes etc.

Public are welcome to contact us to arrange for the drop off/collection of your Hand me Downs and we will ensure that they are redistributed to those in need!

If you would like to be involved in the donation or redistribution of Hand Me Downs, please inbox us at info@saadventure.co.za. For more information about how SA Adventure is involved in communities, take a look at our expeditions and outreach projects.

Sticky Honey and Lemon Chicken

Serves One

Ingredients;

• 2 Cleaned Chicken Breasts
• 1 Paddle of Garlic grated
• 1 Lemon
• Pinch of salt, Black Pepper
• 1tsp Dijon Mustard
• 30g finely chopped mixed Peppers ( Red, Yellow, Green)
• 2 Black Olives Chopped
• 1 tsp of finely chopped Fresh Coriander
• 3 tsp of Honey

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl add salt, black pepper, Dijon mustard and grated garlic
2. Add the clean chicken breasts in the mixing bowl with the ingredients
3. Grate the lemon skin and add half the lemon skin in the chicken mix (note: the rest will be for garnishing at the end)
4. Squeeze the lemon in to the chicken mixture
5. In a hot pan, pour a bit of olive oil and place the chicken breast for 8 minutes per side
6. Take out the chicken and brush with honey then place back on the pan for 3 more minutes per side
7. Take out the chicken from the pan and slice in 3 slices per breast
8. Garnish the chicken with lemon zest, fresh coriander , olives and mixed pepper

Chef Tips:

• For good, clean and well portioned breast cuts it is best to buy them readily chopped out from any of your local butchery
• Make sure your pan is very hot to ensure that the juices remain sealed within the meat and prevent it from sticking to the pan
• When grating your lemon use the finer part of the grater
• All the above ingredients are a selection of easily available items from any local store world wide

Compliments:

• This is a good dish to opt for as a lunch meal in a warm weather but most preferably in the spring season, as spring is all about colour and vibrancy and this dish is a great complement to this effects
• It can be best served with Mashed Potatoes or Risotto.
• For a richer taste you can add a little beat of grated Cheddar Cheese to the Mashed Potato while it is still hot.
• Pair this dish with your choice Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay and eat to your greatest delight

We met a group of young village girls in Ha Mali and I thought the photo of this particular girl captured their beauty and sense of fun.

We very much enjoyed our stay.

Best regards

Beverley Wright (Mrs)

A big thank you to Beverley for sending us this image. Beverley has won herself a Maliba Mountain Lodge peak cap which we will be sending to her shortly.

Thanks to Andrew Martens from RC Helicam we have come a long way to achieving just that. We now have the most spectacular images and aerial virtual tours that allow viewers to not only interact with the videos but explore the Lodge from virtually anywhere they choose. 

Andrew, with his remote controlled helicopter and camera equipment arrived at the lodge, stayed only one night and captured both the lodge and mountains with a series of 16 high definition panoramas.

The results speak for itself! Have a look at our virtual tours which can take you all the way from the River Lodge to 500ft above Mountain Lodge.

Click and hold your mouse on the video tour to moving the camera in any direction you choose to. 360 degrees takes on new meaning with these tours!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words……. We hope that these may help to get a better understanding the lodge and the scenery but remember, it’s always better to see the real deal in person.

What is a Ski Trac?

A Ski Trac is a giant indoor revolving slope that will allow skiers the potential for an endless ski run, within a massive climatically controlled dome.

“The World’s Longest Ski Run!” At the top speed of 30 km/h (19 mph), the slope-stretching magic of the rotating deck becomes apparent. As the skier zigzags downhill he is constantly being taken back up again by the on-coming snow and may in fact never reach the bottom!

In one hour he has traveled 30 kilometres (19 miles) over the snow, making the Ski-Trac the longest ski run in the world – and all under one roof!

The ability to provide a ski run vastly in excess of the size of its structure will see the Ski-Trac become the standard method of indoor skiing throughout the world.

A mandate has been signed with the tourism corporation of the Lesotho Government to commence the development stage of the Maseru Twin Domes. Financial assistance is being granted to make this a major tourist attraction in South Africa.  Plans for a spectacular Twin Domes tourist attraction in the Southern African kingdom of Lesotho have moved to the feasibility stage says Kevin Ferris of Ski Trac International Pty Lt. The news follows the project receiving final clearance from the Lesotho government to commence.

Plans for a spectacular Twin Domes tourist attraction…

This planned resort will be tilted towards the high end of the resort market, making the most of its clear air health benefits, top class hotels, golf courses, mountain walks, panning for diamonds and much more. A push is currently under way to make this the world’s first Ski Trac.

The Twin Domes would see a Ski Trac with its patented indoor revolving snow mountain creating the world’s longest ski run in one of the domes, the other, the Space Dome, would house the world’s largest cinema screen covering seven acres. The site for the Twin Domes at Maseru is very central to Southern African with 14 million people living within a 300km radius.

The Space Dome would also feature the world’s biggest indoor water park, an 800 metres long sandy beach, water slides and tropical lagoons, never-ending surf waves, a submarine tropical reef tour and the chance to ride to Space in a four-man “space craft” to visit a full size replica of the International Space Station and do a space walk in a space suit.

In addition to the standard features of the Ski and Space Domes, a major attraction will be the Orange River Raft Safari which will occupy three levels of the Space Dome. Each twelve-man raft will pass through recreated landscapes commencing at the origin of the river high in the mountains of Lesotho and depict on both sides the life and story of this historic river as it makes its way to the Atlantic Ocean. The river will also feature on Skyline’s Surround-180 five-projector cinema screen which will wrap the viewer within the breath-taking scenery.

“The uniqueness of this project is that it is designed more for boosting the economy of Lesotho than for commercial opportunity, given its location. Thus the project will be largely funded by government and other grants.” said Mr Ferris, “We have already determined that the project will one day ride high on the tourist and local visitor trail. Though not actually up in the Maloti Mountains , the Ski Dome will nevertheless redefine skiing in that country.”

Southern Africa currently has one small commercial ski field operating in Lesotho – Afri-Ski where the season runs from early June to early September.

One of the orphans that lives alone with her 2 younger brothers and very small sister, once came up to my house with some peaches from her fruit tree to give me, very happy to share with me one of the very few things she has.

An especially quiet, lovely afternoon washing clothes in the river with my neighbour women as my dog splashes around in the water.

One night when I was woken up to low, beautiful male singing from a late night ceremony.

When I ran out of propane my good friend and neighbour carried a full tank of propane(about 25 pounds) on her head back to my house.

One afternoon my host sister spent an hour telling me about HIV/AIDS and what I should personally do to stay safe.

My host mom had a party with all of the neighbour women, who all danced with babies strapped to their backs, and my host mom danced with my dog.

When I once told a woman that I liked her shirt and she started to take it off to give it to me.

When I walk home and tell the person I’m walking with that I am tired, they immediately stop walking, point to the grass beside the road and say “then rest.”

A baby without pants peed on the floor in the middle of a meeting (you often bring babies to meetings here), the meeting continued without a pause, at the end the mother scooped up the baby and wiped off the floor on her way out.

Being greeted and asked how I am by everyone I pass whenever I leave my house (why ever did this stress me out when I first got here??)

But the best part of the past year is knowing the people of my village love me.  And what can I give back to them that is better than that?

The contents of this article are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the American Peace Corps.